Waking up early on a Monday morning and running is always a challenge.

Doing so on your birthday isn’t exactly my idea of celebrating.

But a 40-minute run up the trail off Poligue Canyon Road adjacent to Big Bear Lake was the present awarded to UCLA junior Shannon Murakami, who was celebrating her 20th birthday with her younger sister, Amber, and the rest of the Saugus cross country program Monday.

Birthday well wishes were also going out to Saugus assistant Jenny Ridnor, who joined the Centurions for their morning run, which begins with roughly 1,500 meters along a paved road, then becomes similar to the “Beast” course at Whitney Canyon Park in Santa Clarita, as it develops into a predominantly uphill, windy trail of mostly uneven terrain that narrows as it ascends.

The good news for the Saugus runners, coaches and parents who embarked on the Poligue Canyon trail is whatever territory was covered going uphill on the way out was a much less stressful downhill run on the way back to the parking lot adjacent to the Cougar Crest trail, the site of another Saugus morning run later this week.

After 40 minutes of continuous running on the 1 1/2 mile loop on the interpretive Wildwood course Sunday afternoon, Saugus was back to its 80-minute schedule Monday morning.

The Centurions also welcomed junior Kaylin Mahoney to the group for her first run of the week, as the defending Div. II state champion was fulfilling her obligation over the weekend with the Canyon Theatre Guild and its production of “Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat” at College of the Canyons.

Mahoney, who plays the role of “Wife” in the summer production, has balanced her time the past seven weeks since finishing third in the 3,200 meters at the state track meet with training with the Centurions and rehearsing for the play.

Recent graduates Brianna Jauregui and Anne Randall were among the strongest of the female runners, with the nucleus of the varsity girls’ roster and Murakami following closely behind.

Along with UC Santa Barbara sophomore Baxter Frick and Jeff Nelson — a former Burbank High and Glendale College standout — the boys’ varsity group, led by Alec Nelson, Alex Ruther, Zack McGraw, Robert Pion, AJ Hebert, Logan Smith and Kurt Lutz, took the Poligue Canyon trail further than ever before, reaching the 5-mile peak and descending another mile on the other side of the mountain during the 84-minute round-trip run.

The group is returning to the cabin preparing for breakfast, with another run scheduled for 5 p.m. today.

Everybody returned to the cabin in Big Bear Lake following the first “Fawnskin” run, and aside from the fatigue that comes from running anywhere from 60 to 100 minutes at race pace, and the occasional bout of altitude sickness, the Saugus contingent was in good shape following its first morning run of the week.

Some athletes needed to soak in ice baths afterward, the product of their legs and knees pounding on the asphalt and uneven terrain for anywhere from 10 to 14 miles round trip.

Saugus senior Alec Nelson, his father Jeff — a former standout at Burbank High at Glendale College — and Centurions graduate Baxter Frick, a sophomore at UC Santa Barbara, extended the “Fawnskin” run further than any Saugus athlete had ever taken it before, covering 14 miles, including two miles uphill on the way back which leads to a locked gate just above Hanna Flats at the San Bernardino National Forest Campground.

Female alumni Shannon Murakami, a junior at UCLA, and Glendale College freshman Brianna Jauregui did an admirable job of keeping up with the rest of the boys’ varsity roster, including Alex Ruther, Logan Smith, Kurt Lutz and Robert Pion.

According to Saugus coach Rene Paragas, the varsity girls covered more ground in less time than they did last season, a good sign for the start of the week. Whether Saugus can duplicate those efforts as the days progress.

As for now, a lot of down time for the athletes, including reading — there’s a lot of pleasure readers in this group — playing billiards and watching TV, relaxing before an afternoon workout scheduled to cover around five miles and begin around 5 p.m. Will report later with more updates.

Nothing like getting up at 5:30 a.m. on a Sunday to go for a run. Or, in this reporter’s case, getting up to watch people go run.
And then Saugus cross country coach Rene Paragas used the “F” word.
No, not that “F” word, come on, he’s a mentor of student-athletes.
For the Centurions, the “F” word Sunday was “Fawnskin,” not only a cozy little town adjacent to Big Bear Lake, but for many Saugus runners, their least favorite run of the year, even surpassing the daunting challenge of the “Beast” at Whitney Canyon Park in Santa Clarita.
“Fawnskin” is a seemingly endless trail that starts on Rim of the World Drive — appropriately named, even though it’s not in Lake Arrowhead — and morphs into a dirt path filled with uneven terrain. It takes the athletes past YMCA Camp Whittle as well as Hanna Flats at the San Bernardino National Forest campground. Eventually the road comes to an end for vehicles, but obviously not for the runners, who navigated the trail going out for anywhere from 30 to 50 minutes — roughly five to seven miles — depending on their group.
Unlike the “Beast” — a 5-mile, predominantly uphill trek that winds through the Western San Gabriel mountains — “Fawnskin” is more of a rolling course, complete with its share of uphills and downhills. The least favorite aspect of the course for the Saugus runners is whatever they covered going out, they have to turn and cover it again coming back.
Female alumni Shannon Murakami and Brianna Jauregui were presented with the challenge of running with the varsity boys’ group, which departed first shortly after 6:30 a.m., along with former Burbank High and Glendale College standout Jeff Nelson.
Then, Paragas, the varsity girls — including recent graduate Anne Randall — and the JV and frosh/soph boys took their group out shortly thereafter.
Kathryn Nelson and Jenny Ridnor accompanied the JV and frosh/soph girls out. Even some of the Saugus parents were brave enough to take on the “Fawnskin” challenge.
And for those Saugus runners who are lucky enough to stay until Friday in Big Bear Lake, they get to run “Fawnskin” one more time this week before they return to the Santa Clarita Valley.
This reporter can already tell coach Paragas and the Centurions mean business on this trip.
Will check back in a little while with the “Fawnskin” aftermath.

If you want to see some really competitive Little League baseball, check out the Southern California Divisionals tournament beginning today (Saturday) at Encino Little League — the second-to-last stop before the annual Little League World Series in Williamsport, Pa.

Because there are so many top programs in California, many agree the Southern California Divisionals is actually more difficult to win than the Western Regionals in San Bernandino that qualifies one team for the World Series.

Hroniss Grasu, a top returning offensive and defensive lineman for Crespi, committed to Oregon on Sunday, and he says the plan is for him to play center in college.

Grasu’s committment to the Ducks means he will remain teammates with Crespi quarterback Bryan Bennett, who committed to Oregon last month. Grasu also had Pac-10 offers from Washington and Washington State.

“It’s always been a dream to play in the Pac-10, and this is like a dream come true,” Grasu said. “Plus, Bryan Bennett is like a brother to me, and I look forward to playing with him in college. I just had a gut feeling about Oregon.”

It’s been at least 30 years since Encino Little League has advanced past the District 40 tournament, but the 11- and 12-year-olds have a great shot this time around.

All they have to do is defeat Granada Hills today at 5 p.m. at Woodland Hills-Sunrise. If Encino (3-0) loses, then the teams play again Thursday at 5 p.m. at the same site in the final game of the double-elimination tournament.

Encino is averaging 10.6 runs a game. Since a first-round loss to Sherman Oaks, Granada Hills (5-1) has won five in a row by a combined score of 84-4.

The big surprise was Northridge going three-and-out, including a first-round loss. That hasn’t happened in god knows how long, as Northridge has been the area’s most consistently successful program through the years, including advancing to the World Series championship final 1975 in Williamsport, Pa.

Granada Hills is the area’s only local Little League team to win the World Series in 1963.

The District 40 winner advances to the Section 2 tournament in Glendale beginning on Saturday.

When the subject of the Harvard-Westlake of North Hollywood boys basketball team comes up, talk usually centers around Erik Swoope and Damiene Cain, co-Players of the Year in Division III-A while helping lead the Wolverines to a section championship back in March.

However, Swoope and Cain wouldn’t be nearly as effective without steady guard play.

Austin Kelly is solid and forms a nice trio at the top of the line-up but one of the unsung heroes for the Wolverines is Mike Attanasio, a 2-year varsity player, who led the team in assists and was second in 3-pointers made in 2009.

At first glance, Attanasio, all 5’9 and 150 pounds dripping wet of him looks like he should be playing second base on a baseball diamond.

One has to ask why not?, considering his dad, Mark, owns the Milwaukee Brewers.

How did a kid from a baseball family end up on a basketball court in an air-conditioned gym.

Mike answers that right away.

“I just really didn’t like baseball until my dad bought the Brewers,” Mike Attanasio said. “Ever since though I love baseball. Me and my dad will watch every pitch.”

The younger Attansio may like the game of baseball a bit more now than he did but is definitely a basketball player first and foremost.

Attanasio would like nothing more than to win a state championship after being part of the section championship team last year.

“That is our goal for next year, to win state,” Attanasio said.

His job is to provide valuable guard play getting the ball to Swoope and Cain and making good decisions on the perimeter.

“Those guys are great and their skill level is unbelieveable. My job is to pass, play great defense and hit the timely shot. I don’t really need to shoot. Having great players around me is a great luxury. I can stay calm and in control.”

Attanasio would like to continue his basketball career after high school and has some good feelers from Ivy League schools but also wants to pursue a direction in business, something he has learned from his dad.

Attansio is joining a webiste called scoutingthesports.com, a growing company with 20 athlete bloggers. He will be writing different blogs throughout his senior year in high school and throughout college.

As far as the Milwaukee Brewers are concerned, Attanasio said he likes watching the young guys play such as Prince Fielder, the 2009 Home Run Derby champion, Rickie Weeks, Ryan Braun and J.J. Hardy.

“It has really brought me and my dad close together,” the younger Attanasio said. “We talk about everything to do with the team.”

Business and baseball can wait a few years though because Attanasio is dedicated to the hardwood right now.

He was second in the Mission League in assists and sixth in 3-pointers made, numbers he hope to improve on in 2010.

“We have areally good team and and we all hope to get better individually and as a team,” Attanasio said.

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